Elder Rhett Aaron Shaw

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!

We had another incredible week here in Estacada! We were able to set up a baptismal date with one of our investigators, Sara Dysart for the 23rd of July!! We are sooo excited! We were also able to meet and teach a wonderful family, The Ferguson's! We had a lesson with them on Weds with bro Trujillo and hit if off well. They don't have a solid background in religion so we have been teaching them as simply as we can. They really enjoyed our lesson and they even asked us when church was. They will be baptized sometime in August...wow they are solid! Tony is the husband, Jennifer is the wife and they have a son and a daughter: Tyler and Olivia. Such a neat family. So happy to have the privilege of working with them and to help them come to know who their savior is and how much their Heavenly Father loves them. We are stoked! April Newton is on her way toward baptism. We have been having wonderful lessons with her at sister bethea's house, a less active that we teach. April has had a rough life and in our last discussion we were talking about the Holy Ghost and the comfort and peace it gives us. She then brought up baptism, but said that she wasn't ready yet to set a date. We shall see how this week goes. We are shooting for her to be baptized on July 30th, but will push it back if needed. We also have been able to stop by several more less actives. 

I got to see my little sister Egge! She hasn't changed a bit! She is a hoot! We were also able to teach Gena and after the lesson was able to hold her pet snakes!! They were soooo cool. I wasn't even scared...I loved it! We were also able to set up a lunch and lesson with Preston Marshall, a less active that we were working with when I was here 18 months ago. I guess we were the last elders who would stop by and visit him...it has been like that with a lot people here. :( We made a Scottish Lunch where we made potato dough, fried some duck eggs, and made some more haggis! Wow...that food definitely has an acquired taste!...it wasn't my favorite. It was a good experience though. We also had a less active pop up in our areabook that the ward nor us even knew about. Katie Paulson recently moved from Vancouver and is trying to get her life back in order. She is solid. We had a lesson with her on Saturday and committed her to come back to church. She was there Sunday! She really wants to change and wants to be more involved in the church. She is awesome!!

We were also able to do a lot of service this week. We were able to help Melodie on Tuesday and was able to share with her a message. She is sooo good to us. She always drops off food and is such a sweetheart. Hopefully we will be teaching her and her husband soon. We also were able to help the Haggstroms finish their pool in their backyard. It was a lot of work! They are such a neat family!

I hope that everyone has a wonderful 4th of July!!! Our's was sooooo sweeeet! We had a pancake breakfast at the Mt. Hood Stake Center at 9 am. We were able to help serve the food and clean up afterwords. There were over 500 people that showed up. It was great. Since today is also our pday we had to get all of our shopping, emails, and laundry done etc, while also celebrating the 4th! It has been crazy, but a blast. After the breakfast we shopped and ran some errands. We then when to the Estacada Timber Festival in the afternoon until 4 when we had 4th of July Dinner with Bishop Hawkins and his family. At the Festival we were able to watch the timber competition with the Browns (I will try to send some videos), and Elder Hansen and I went on the "kamikaze" the ride that is usually at all carnivals that look like hammer heads. I wasn't been scared! It was SOOOO MUCH FUN!!! I was screaming and yelling having a good old time. It was a blast. I will send you some pics and a video. :) Dinner at Bishops was wonderful! It has been gorgeous here, perfect temperature with sunlight....I hope it cools off in AZ or I am going to die....anyway it was perfect. We had yummy food and it was sooo good to talk to them. They are part of my family up here in Oregon. It felt like home. We are going to go with the Browns to watch fireworks tonight. We able to stay out until 11 tonight! It should be fun!

Yes, It's a snake!!

Here is a short and sweet thought going along with America's birthday!

America is great because America is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.” -Alexis De Toqueville

2 Nephi 1:7 "Wherefore, this land is consecrated unto him whom he shall bring. And if it so be that they shall serve him according to the commandments which he hath given, it shall be a land of liberty unto them; wherefore, they shall never be brought down into captivity; if so, it shall be because of iniquity; for if iniquity shall abound cursed shall be the land for their sakes, but unto the righteous it shall be blessed forever."

I hope that everyone stays safe and has a wonderful week. 

I love you all!

Elder Shaw